Age-related conditions are the leading causes of death and health-care costs. Reducing the rate of aging would have enormous medical and financial benefits. Myriad genes and pathways are known to regulate aging in model organisms, fostering a new crop of anti-aging companies. Approaches range from drug discovery efforts to big-data methods and direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies. Challenges and pitfalls of commercialization include reliance on findings from short-lived model organisms, poor biological understanding of aging, and hurdles in performing clinical trials for aging. A large number of potential aging-associated interventions and targets exist, but given the long validation times only a small fraction can be explored for clinical applications. If even one company succeeds, however, the impact will be huge.

与年龄有关的状况是造成死亡和医疗费用的主要原因。降低老化速度将带来巨大的医疗和经济利益。众所周知，无数的基因和途径可以调节模型生物的衰老，从而培育出一批抗衰老的新公司。方法范围从药物发现工作到大数据方法和直接面向消费者（DTC）策略。商业化的挑战和陷阱包括依赖短命模型生物的发现，对衰老的生物学认识不佳以及进行衰老临床试验的障碍。存在大量潜在的与衰老相关的干预措施和目标，但鉴于验证时间长，因此只能探索一小部分用于临床应用。但是，即使一家公司成功了，其影响也将是巨大的。